|
Turnovers Spoil AU
Effort Against Ferris State |
|
In negotiations, there is usually some give and take and both sides walk away reasonably satisfied. In football, that’s not usually the case. The Ashland-Ferris State football game Saturday (Nov. 8) at Ashland’s Community Stadium is a perfect example. Ashland gave and Ferris State took. The Eagles gave the ball away six times – five on fumbles and one on an interception. Those miscues, combined with seven AU penalties for 42 yards, helped the visiting Bulldogs stop the Eagles, 17-10. FSU is 6-4, 5-4 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. FSU has one game to play. The Eagles’ season is finished at 2-9, 2-8 in conference action. Ashland outgained the Bulldogs, 318-135. But when the Eagles needed a yard at the end of the game to tie the score and send the game into overtime, they couldn’t get it. With just over a minute left in regulation, AU got to the FSU2. Two running plays moved the ball to the FSU1. AU senior quarterback John Szabo fired twice into the end zone, once for wideout Trent Seay and on fourth down, for tight end Brian Mong. When those passes fell incomplete, any chances of an AU win were gone. FSU scored both of its touchdowns on fumble recoveries. Senior Rob Giles fell on a fumble in the AU end zone after AU return man Toure Carter mishandled a punt at the AU2. Senior linebacker Luke Piepkow picked up a fumble by freshman quarterback Nick Strance and rumbled 18 yards for a touchdown. That Piepkow score gave the Bulldogs a 17-3 lead with 5:42 to go in the third quarter. Even down by 14 points, the Eagles were in the game. That’s because FSU couldn’t move the AU defense. Tailback Derek Fudge, who came into the game averaging 127.4 ypg., was limited to 44 yards on 20 carries, an average of 2.2 ypc. Quarterback Tom Marsan completed 15 of 25 passes for 103 yards. He was sacked four times. The one positive offensively for the Bulldogs was that they never gave the ball away. “This was a tremendous effort by our kids,” said AU head coach Gary Keller. “I can’t remember a game where we played as well on defense.” Sophomore linebacker Devin Conwell led that charge. He had 12 tackles (nine solo) and five tackles for loss (21 yards). Junior linebacker Chris Campbell was in on six tackles (five solo) with three tackles for loss. Senior defensive lineman Dan Drane made six tackles (five solo) and had two tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Ashland did its best to creep back into the contest. The Eagles cut the FSU margin to 17-10 with 4:44 to go in regulation on a 1-yard run by senior tailback Joe Provenzano. Provenzano was taking handoffs from Szabo, who was playing for the first time since the fourth week of the season when he was sidelined by a knee injury. Szabo completed five of 16 passes for 67 yards. Strance was 17 of 26 for 173 yards. “We were lethargic on offense all day,” admitted Keller. “John gave us a little bit of a spark.” Junior wide receiver Michael Hull provided real firepower with 12 catches for 162 yards. Hull set the AU career record for receptions. He ends the year with 139 career catches. His total on Saturday was two off his school single-game reception record of 14, set last year against Findlay. Hull will have a chance to return next season. For the seniors who played their final game Saturday, this was it. Keller saluted them for their effort. “Our seniors played big today,” said Keller, who completed his 10th season at the helm. “We didn’t play like a 2-9 team and a lot of that is because of our seniors. They hung in there and went to work every week.” |